Junichi Inamoto

Junichi Inamoto (稲本 潤一, Inamoto Junichi, born September 18, 1979) is a Japanese former football player. He played for the Japan national team.

Junichi Inamoto
稲本 潤一
Junichi Inamoto.jpg
Inamoto playing for Kawasaki Frontale in 2010
Personal information
Full nameJunichi Inamoto[1]
Date of birth18 September 1979
     (aged 46)
[1]
Place of birthKagoshima Prefecture, Japan
Height1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Playing positionMidfielder[3]
Youth career
1992–1997Gamba Osaka
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1997–2004Gamba Osaka118(16)
2001–2002Arsenal (loan)0(0)
2002–2004Fulham (loan)41(9)
2004–2006West Bromwich Albion28(0)
2004–2005Cardiff City (loan)14(0)
2006–2007Galatasaray25(0)
2007–2009Eintracht Frankfurt43(0)
2009–2010Rennes5(0)
2010–2014Kawasaki Frontale99(3)
2015–2018Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo47(1)
2019–2021SC Sagamihara19(1)
2022–2024Nankatsu SC2(0)
Total441(25)
National team
1995Japan U-173(0)
1998–1999Japan U-2011(4)
1998–2000Japan U-2315(5)
2000–2010Japan82(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Biography

Inamoto was born in Osaka Prefecture on September 18, 1979.[4] He joined J1 League club Gamba Osaka from their youth team in 1997. In April, at the age of 17, he made his debut in the 1997 season, which made him the youngest player to play in the J1 League at that time. He played for Gamba until summer 2001 and played 118 matches in J1 League. In summer 2001, he moved to English Premier League club Arsenal. After that, he played for many European clubs including Fulham, West Bromwich Albion, Cardiff City, Galatasaray, Eintracht Frankfurt and Stade Rennais. In 2010, he returned to Japan and joined Kawasaki Frontale. He played for the club for five seasons. In 2015, he moved to J2 League club Consadole Sapporo (later Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo). Although the club were the champions in 2016 and was promoted to J1, he could not play many matches in the 2016 season. In 2019, he moved to J3 League club SC Sagamihara. The club reached second place in 2020 and was promoted to J2.

In August 1995, Inamoto was selected for the Japan U-17 national team in the [the [1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship|1995 U-17 World Championship]] and played all three matches. In April 1999, he was selected for the Japan U-20 national team for the 1999 World Youth Championship. At this tournament, he played three matches and Japan came in second place.

On February 5, 2000, Inamoto debuted for the Japan national team under manager Philippe Troussier against Mexico. After the debuted, Inamoto played 10 matches or more every year. In September 2000, Inamoto was selected Japan U-23 national team for 2000 Summer Olympics. He played full-time in all 4 matches and scored a goal against Slovakia. In 2000, Inamoto played at 2000 Asian Cup. He played four matches and Japan won the championship. In 2001, he also played at 2001 Confederations Cup. He played four matches and Japan came second place. In 2002, he was selected Japan for 2002 World Cup. He played all four matches and scored two goals against Belgium at first match and Russia at second match. Japan qualified to the knockout stage first time in Japan's history. After 2002 World Cup, Inamoto played at 2003 and 2005 Confederations Cup. In 2006, he was selected by Japan for 2006 World Cup. He played two matches while Japan was eliminated in the group stages. After the 2006 World Cup, Inamoto was not selected Japan for a year. In June 2007, he played for Japan for the first time in a year. After that, he played several matches every year. In 2010, he was selected by Japan for the 2010 World Cup. He played two matches and Japan qualified for the knockout stage. This World Cup saw his last game for Japan. He played 82 games and scored 5 goals for Japan.

Career statistics

Club

As of 14 October 2022[5][6]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Gamba Osaka 1997 J1 League 27 3 3 0 6 0 36 3
1998 28 6 1 0 4 0 33 6
1999 22 1 2 0 0 0 24 1
2000 28 4 2 0 4 1 34 5
2001 13 2 0 0 3 0 16 2
Total 118 16 8 0 17 1 143 17
Arsenal (loan) 2001–02 Premier League 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 4 0
Fulham (loan) 2002–03 Premier League 19 2 2 0 2 0 10[a] 4 33 6
2003–04 22 2 2 1 1 0 25 3
Total 41 4 4 1 3 0 10 4 58 9
West Bromwich Albion 2004–05 Premier League 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
2005–06 Premier League 22 0 2 0 2 1 26 1
2006–07 Championship 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Total 28 0 2 0 2 1 32 1
Cardiff City (loan) 2004–05 Championship 14 0 2 0 0 0 16 0
Galatasaray 2006–07 Süper Lig 25 0 3 0 5 1 33 1
Eintracht Frankfurt 2007–08 Bundesliga 24 0 2 0 26 0
2008–09 19 0 1 0 20 0
Total 43 0 3 0 46 0
Rennes 2009–10 Ligue 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
Kawasaki Frontale 2010 J1 League 28 0 2 0 4 0 5 0 39 0
2011 12 2 1 0 1 0 14 2
2012 20 0 1 0 3 0 24 0
2013 25 0 3 0 10 0 36 0
2014 14 1 1 0 1 0 3 0 19 1
Total 99 3 8 0 20 0 8 0 135 3
Consadole Sapporo 2015 J2 League 31 0 1 0 32 0
2016 J2 League 8 1 0 0 8 1
2017 J1 League 6 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
2018 2 0 1 0 5 0 8 0
Total 47 1 2 0 5 0 54 0
SC Sagamihara 2019 J3 League 9 1 0 0 9 1
2020 1 0 0 0 1 0
2021 J2 League 9 0 2 0 11 0
Nankatsu SC 2022 Kanto Soccer League 2 0 0 0 2 0
Career total 441 25 34 1 49 2 25 5 549 33
  1. Includes appearances in the Intertoto Cup

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[7]
National team Year Apps Goals
Japan 2000 14 0
2001 11 1
2002 11 2
2003 10 1
2004 6 0
2005 10 0
2006 4 0
2007 3 0
2008 2 0
2009 4 1
2010 8 0
Total 82 5
Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Inamoto goal.
List of international goals scored by Junichi Inamoto
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 4 July 2001 Ōita, Japan  Yugoslavia 1–0 Friendly match
2 4 June 2002 Saitama, Japan File:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium 2–2 2002 FIFA World Cup Group Stage
3 9 June 2002 Yokohama, Japan  Russia 1–0 2002 FIFA World Cup Group Stage
4 28 March 2003 Tokyo, Japan File:Flag of Uruguay.svg Uruguay 2–2 Friendly match
5 9 September 2009 Utrecht, Netherlands  Ghana 4–3 Friendly match

Honours

Fulham

Hokkaido Consodale Sapporo

Japan U17

Japan U20

Japan

Individual

  • J.League Best Eleven: 2000[source?]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Juni̇chi̇ İnamotoTurkish Football Federation. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  2. Junichi Inamoto: OverviewPremier League. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  3. Junichi Inamoto. Barry Hugman's Footballers.
  4. Junichi Inamoto at J.League (in Japanese)
  5. Junichi Inamoto at J.League (in Japanese)
  6. Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  7. Japan National Football Team Database
  8. Fulham force draw. 13 August 2002. https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/2188318.stm. Retrieved 23 January 2020. 
    Fulham clinch Euro glory. 27 August 2002. https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/uefa_cup/2217215.stm. Retrieved 23 January 2020. 
  9. J. Inamoto. Soccerway.com.

Other websites

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